Highlighted Exhibitions:

Whistler’s Mother: An American Icon Returns to Chicago

In March, James McNeill Whistler’s masterpiece returns to Chicago from Paris for the first time in over 60 years. The fame of this iconic work is considered in a focused installation of approximately 25 objects, including small- and large-format paintings, prints, drawings, posters, and other ephemera. The presentation also explores Whistler’s use of family members as subjects, his abstract treatment of conventional genres such as portraiture and landscape, and the arc of his professional ambition. The return of “Whistler’s Mother” to the Art Institute of Chicago is especially meaningful given the museum’s deep holdings of Whistler’s paintings, prints, and drawings. Championed by the museum during his lifetime, Whistler is one of the 19th-century artists whose work lies at the core of the Art Institute’s collection.

Saints and Heroes: Art of Medieval and Renaissance Europe

Step back in time and immerse yourself in the spiritual, domestic, and chivalric worlds of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. This spring, the Art Institute unveils the new Deering Family Galleries of Medieval and Renaissance Art, Arms, and Armor, presenting nearly 700 objects from the museum’s rich holdings of art from 1200 to 1600: monumental altarpieces, exquisite jewelry, and the beloved arms and armor collection.